ACCOUNTING AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURES 355
railway. They secured increasing contexts for interaction. Their ideas gradually
became more concrete and they persuaded others around them. In an episodic
manner, moving from the general to the particular, they secured changes to
reporting relationships and systems. Each episode was punctuated by a key
event. These events became symbols of the business culture, endowing railway
activities with a new meaning, and provided a basis for continual and cumulative
reinterpretations of railway operations.
Of course, there was tension. These decisions challenged the status of the
regional General Managers and others who still subscribed to old beliefs. There
was resentment and hostility. But the Business Managers let each step ‘‘soak’’ so
the organization could acclimatize, before embarking on the next episode, and a
majority of the senior management gradually converted to the ‘‘business culture’’.
Appealing to another metaphor, a Senior Executive commented:
We’ve lit a bonfire and it’s burning like mad.The Regional General Managers’ perspective
Regional General Managers were steeped in tradition. They were the descendants
of the railway pioneers, the bastions of the railway culture. The business culture
struck at their values and beliefs. When asked why and how they had let these
things happen, they responded:
It wasn’t obvious at the time. The Business Managers were planners. We
didn’t expect the railway operations to change (General Manager).One quoted from a memo he had written to his staff immediately after the
Executive Committee meeting which had approved the principle of the Business
Managers’ appointment:
The respective roles of Headquarters and the Regions will not change...
Policies, as now will evolve from discussions. The Regions will participate...In fact, from the General Managers’ perspective, the story is one of initial
seduction, followed by surprise and ambivalence, defection and resignation. They
were aware of external pressures for financial performance. Some thought it was
a whim, and would pass. But most perceived a need for a business perspective,
and supported the creation of the Business Managers’ positions in the Executive
Committee. When the Business Managers were appointed, most welcomed their
influence. At an early stage, one General Manager commented:
This is good for us. I’m quite pleased at the way the culture is changing. You
talk around now and nobody is in any doubt that the railway is business-led.And another, commenting on the decision to relocate the high speed trains: